Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Young Ayrshire golfers enjoy lessons from Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry

YOUNG golfers in South Ayrshire recently enjoyed a masterclass with golf legend Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry.

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The 18 time major winner was in the area promoting unsung heroes in the game for the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Daily Record newspaper.

The global golfing icon had expressed fears that too few young golfers were coming forward to play golf, particularly in the USA, so when he learned of South Ayrshire Council’s successful running of the national clubgolf programme for primary school children, he offered to host a coaching clinic.

He told the Daily Record: “All the kids here like golf and they hit the ball nicely. I enjoy working with them, even though I don’t do a lot of it now.”

The clubgolf programme is the legacy of the then Scottish Executive’s bid to host the 2009 Ryder Cup – subsequently awarded to Scotland for 2014.

The national initiative offers every nine year-old the chance to experience golf during school time, and in South Ayrshire this year over 1,000 primary five pupils will be introduced to the game.

A small group of children in Carrick were chosen in 2006 to launch the initiative locally and it proved extremely successful.

The results of the programme were on display to the golfing legend as boys and girls took part in an entertaining and highly successful clinic. The Golden Bear admitted that he had ‘nothing to teach’ a number of youngsters whose abilities were admired by a large group of onlookers.

South Ayrshire Council leader Councillor Hugh Hunter (pictured above with Jack Nicklaus) attended the clinic to watch the youngsters and said: “To be given the opportunity to attend a clinic at Turnberry is an extraordinary opportunity, and to receive it from the legendary Jack Nicklaus really is the icing on the cake.

“The boys and girls were excellent ambassadors for their schools, and I was immensely proud of them. To get up and hit a ball in front of a crowd at Turnberry would be daunting, but to do it with so much panache in the presence of the greatest ever golfer is nothing short of awesome.”

clubgolf owes its success to the enthusiasm shown by firstly the staff within schools and volunteers from across the whole of South Ayrshire.

Staff and volunteers at Maybole Golf Club worked with the original group, which resulted in a very healthy number of children progressing to a golf club setting annually and this, in turn, encouraged other pupils who wanted to take part.

Several of the Maybole girls have progressed so well that they are now able to participate in Ayrshire Girls competitions, while several of the boys will have a formally recognised handicap this year.

The clubgolf programme has also benefited from the support of Prestwick Golf Club, who, despite not having a junior membership category, have allowed the practice ground to be used by juniors participating in the clubgolf initiative.

Again, this development has been very successful, with 14 of the original 16 children receiving tuition in 2008 from a Prestwick professional, returning again in 2009.

With summer nearly here and with The Open Championship a matter of weeks away, young golfers are being encouraged to join the new South Ayrshire Junior Golf Club – set up specifically for young golfers.

For more information on this club and for an application form, visit the website at:

All in all, the future of golf in South Ayrshire looks to be in good hands, and who knows - with the Open Championship being hosted at Turnberry this year, one day we may even have our own home-grown champion lifting the coveted claret jug!

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THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).